No Cancer, but What About Brain Injuries?

• Position: MICROWAVES

Contrary to what was once popular belief, microwaves do not cause cancer. It is a decades-old concern that may evoke an image of a child standing in front of a microwave, peering through the dimly-lit door, only to be told to take a few steps back or he or she could be sickened by an inexplicable illness or worse--radiation poisoning.

Thanks to advancements in science, engineering, and technology, we now know that microwaves are safe, effective, and efficient. However, research from Texas A&M University reveals that exposure to certain extremely high-powered microwave and radio frequencies may result in high stresses within the brain.

Justin Wilkerson, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, in collaboration with researchers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the Air Force Research Laboratory, began investigating the effects of high-powered pulsed microwaves on the human body. Most commonly used for rapid cooking, microwaves are a type of electromagnetic radiation that fall between radio and infrared light on the electromagnetic spectrum.

"The microwave heating causes spatially varying, rapid thermal expansion, which then induces mechanical waves that propagate through the brain, like ripples in a pond," Wilkerson...